Like everything in this world, underwear has its own habits for a long life. It is delicate, made of the finest and most sensitive materials to provide us with all the comfort and to cover the functionality as well. So today we will talk about how to care for our underwear so that we can enjoy it for as long as possible.
It's not complicated, I'm convinced that in one form or another we all know these things, it's just that we get busy and forget, we sometimes run out of time, we sometimes crave convenience, and in the end we end up feeling sorry when our favorite underwear has been compromised.
So, because time is precious, let's get straight to the point.
When it comes to underwear, hand washing is recommended . Not for everything, but for the most delicate items made of fine materials, hand washing is recommended (cotton panties and tank tops, for example, can be washed in the washing machine). And here it is, in two steps and three movements... we put lukewarm water in a clean bowl/sink, add a little detergent, shake the water a little until we make foam, put the underwear to soak (sorted by color beforehand), possibly pass the items through our hands a little more to make sure they will soak well, let them sit in the water for a quarter of an hour, rub them a little more in the areas where they need to be insisted, then rinse them thoroughly (in several waters if necessary) and squeeze them gently. Although the most common are squeezing by twisting or making a ball, here it would be great if we did this gently, by pressing. Afterwards we can neatly place our items on hangers or, equally well, we can put a large and porous towel or several on the dryer and then the underwear. This way we avoid having traces of wires from the dryer or from the clothes hooks at the end, and the towels will do their job and absorb excess water. Parenthesis: A post-purchase rinse is more than recommended. Being new products, they do not require too much effort or time, and if we think about how important personal hygiene is, I think it is worth it.
Make hand washing a moment of pampering for yourself.
Even if at first glance you will laugh, you will see that it is possible. While your underwear is soaking, you can enjoy a hydrating mask for your skin and décolleté, a few pages of a book, your favorite music in the background, a review of the most important news, etc. This way you make the most of your time and washing by hand doesn't seem like such a chore. For me, most of the time, acoustic guitar music in the background works great (now, being in vacation fever, I admit that I also really like Greek music) with a mask on my face and décolleté. I did everything as much as you could. Now don't imagine that I did it this way all the time, I don't have enough time either, but I came to the conclusion that it is more profitable this way, from all points of view. And gradually, gradually, I pushed myself until I made it a habit. And as my mother says when I do something good - “may God preserve your habit” - I stick to it and it doesn't seem like anything out of the ordinary to me anymore. Plus, it's not like the old days when women used bleach and there was no day to wash “something” to have it for “tomorrow”. Now most of us have several rows of underwear and in a maximum of half an hour a week (for me it happens on the weekend) we have solved the problem. And if we think about it a little, taking into account the fact that bras are usually washed after two or three wears and panties after every wear, it's not I don't know how clean they are.
Next, I'll share with you what helped me make my underwear last longer, maybe it's useful for you too:
- Always sort items by color before putting them in the wash. This is to avoid the risk of one messier item staining the others.
- When washing by hand, we don't use hot water, but lukewarm. In any case, cold water is better than hot. Hot water increases the risk of discoloration and affects the elasticity of the item in the medium and long term, and underwear with compromised elasticity, no matter how much we like it, no longer serves its purpose. For blood stains, ice-cold water will do the job.
- Underwear items (that are suitable for automatic washing) should not be put in the washing machine with other clothes. Or if there are too few of them and they absolutely cannot stand the wait, special laundry bags are absolutely indispensable. It seems that you can do without them, but after a few washes in a pile, your underwear will definitely suffer.
- Bras are washed exclusively by hand. Using an automatic washing machine, you risk the wires getting twisted or puncturing the material, the seams being damaged, and the bra not looking good anymore and, most importantly, not doing its job of supporting the bust. And yet, although it is totally not recommended to wash bras in the machine, if it is an emergency, at least use special bags to avoid items getting stuck together.
- Whether we're talking about hand or automatic washing (usually, panties are washed at 40◦ on a delicate cycle), it's best not to use strong detergents because they affect the quality of the material in the long term. Not to mention people with sensitive skin.
- Do not use a clothes dryer under any circumstances, there is every chance (I can tell you from experience) that after just one drying, your underwear will lose its elasticity, become loose, look bad and be unusable. The most at risk here are elastic items, elastane or other delicate materials such as lace.
- And when it comes to caring for our underwear, let's not forget that proper storage plays a role, you can find an article dedicated to this topic here .
Don't get me wrong, I'm a pragmatic person and I value my time, but I also value my money. So, considering the investment I made and the fact that I want to wear the items I chose and paid for for as long as possible, I've convinced myself that it's more than worth it to invest half an hour on the weekend to hand wash my underwear.
If you think the same way and we're on the same wavelength, I hope this article is useful to you.
Until next time!